My new variety of lily plant, which I call `Etchings,` originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings growing in a cultivated area at Boring, Oreg. The seedlings resulted from breeding efforts carried on by me since 1981. The breeding efforts had as their objective the production of large-flowered, upfacing lilies in cream and white color tones well suited to forcing for cut flower production out of season, heretofore unknown in the lily breeding art.
I achieved the desired objective by using as the seed parent an upfacing cream-white clone produced from pollinating the clonal cultivar `Sterling Star` with the clonal cultivar `Connecticut King.` I used as pollen parent of the new hybrid an upfacing, large-flowered white seedling clone from the cross `Connecticut Queen`.times.(Pastel strain, upright white.times.(`Connecticut King`.times."brush-marked" seedling)).
The flowers of my new lily are characterized by large size, broad tepals, an upright orientation, and a soft cream to white color pattern accented by a delicate "etched" spotting pattern, unique in this type of lily. In addition, the clone possesses to a high degree desirable characteristics of hybrid vigor, great hardiness, and disease resistance. It possesses all of the desired characteristics of excellence of form, color, and habit. Its large flowers are produced on a single stalk. The clone is vigorous and a good grower and propagator, as observed at Boring, Oreg.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Boring, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation, by natural propagation from bulblets, and by tissue culturing have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.